Betrayed
by erydamnday
Summary: All he wanted in life was to overcome his past, but dire circumstances have forced him back to the place he wishes to leave behind forever. Follow Akira Kurosawa as he returns back to the land he betrayed.


I own nothing, you own nothing. We are all just pawns in Kishimoto's plot to take over the world.

"Dialog"

'Inner Dialog'

The man known as Kuro

Introduction: Mission Start

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~Current Time~~~~~~~~~~

The large wooden door opened with a creak, revealing a man almost as large as the door itself covered in a dense black raincoat. Walking over to me with a nod he grabbed at his coat pocket taking a couple of item out and shoved them into my awaiting palms.

"You have gotta be shitting me." The response came immediately as I looked down at what was forced into my hands.

A piece of wax paper in my left. But not just any random piece of wax paper, oh no this one was white on one side with a bright red label 'Name' at the top. On the other side was a stickiness to it, obviously meant to stick to clothing. My other hand revealed a plain looking black marker. In other words, I was being given a name tag. Why on earth am I being given a name tag? All I came here for was an easy C rank mission, not to be mocked by someone twice my size.

"Tough, everyone who takes a mission here has to wear one", the gruff looking man with a ridiculously large amount of scars on his face uttered with what appeared to be utmost annoyance, but as I peered at his face the faint outline of a smirk was clear as day.

'Is this for real?' Deciding that this man was messing with me I go to take it throw it to the side.

"I'm a ninja here for a job, not a class reunion," I exclaim with what I hope is an even tone. I am here for a mission after all, pissing off my the recruitment agent would do me no favors. But seriously, what ninja announces who he is to everyone just for the convenience of the client. Before I can get rid of the name tag the man stops me with a hand.

"It's not up for debate; write your name down, take the mission scroll, and go meet the client." the man simply said. He reached into his coat pocket again and this time took out a small scroll. He stopped for a second to twirl the scroll it in his hand with a worried look on his face before placed it on the table in front of me.

The man didn't look like he was going to put up with any more of my complaining it seemed as he stood up from his chair, walked out of the room and closed the large door with a bang. 'The things I do for money I guess' taking the marker I quickly wrote down 'Akira Kurosawa' and stuck it to the left side of my chest.

"Fucking mission dealers, I look like an amateur with this", I muttered as I threw the marker at the door the man disappeared behind. But I really shouldn't complain, I spent the last of my money buying my breakfast this morning after all. Such is the life of a shinobi on the run it seems. I back out of the room and walk down the hall to the exit of the building, taking only a moment to gaze at what once was the Hoshikage's beautiful mansion. 'Might as well leave now, don't want to be late'. Opening the door to the exit of the mansion in the now defunct Hoshigakure ninja village.

I quickly walked over to a nearby tree and set down my pack in the shade. Before taking out the mission scroll I decided to go over my supplies. My kunai and shurikan were stored in their appropriate pouches with the sword of Kusanagi in its scabbard attached to my purple rope belt at my waist.

"I really can't believe I made it out alive with this thing. Orochimaru is gonna flay me alive if he ever finds me", I said to the wind. My final 'fuck you' to my last teacher, taking the legendary sword capable of controlling the wind around it to increase its size and power. He couldn't really leave Oto empty handed after all. Whether he took a legendary sword or not, Orochimaru would not take his desertion lightly. Buts that's the point of me currently being in the Land of Bears I guess. To get away from the horrors of the last few years of my miserable existence.

I shook off those memories and nodding when everything was in its place. Returning my pack to its previous position on my back I opened the mission scroll and glanced at its contents.

"Meet the old man at the docks, prepare for a week long voyage." Seriously, does everything in this village have to be so vague? Will I be protecting this old man? Or would the old man lead me to where I need to go? Deciding that the only way to find out would be to go to the mission location.

Remembering my bearings I quickly made my way to the entrance of what I assumed was once quite a large marina. Looking around one couldn't help but feel sorry for the state they now sat in. All of the docks in the marina were destroyed with rotting and burnt wood all around. They had once been quite beautiful really, with ornate pillars at the entrance of each dock. But now only one dock remained in working order, which at the end of the pier housed a large traditional wooden ship with a single white sail with a large black star in the middle. Without cannon or armaments of any kind, a ship with this large of a hull could only be a merchant vessel.

I began to walk down the pier when I noticed a man sitting at a bench next to the ship

"Not what it once was, not after the attack." The voice came from a man sitting down, clearly he had been waiting for me.

"Pardon?" I replied. Waiting for the man to speak further I gestured for him to continue. In response he got up from the bench with a grunt and walked over to me.

"You must be the shinobi I requested, I'm Takashi, the leader of this village." He spoke with a smile on his face, like he was glad to see me. Hopefully I hadn't kept him waiting long, I really needed the money from this mission. Realizing that the man had stopped speaking I took a moment to size him up.

The man must be in his late 70s, with white hair sprouting out of all sides of his head and a rather painful looking hunch in his back. Shit, it must have been a chore to even get up from the bench, should I have offered to help? Its too late now for that unfortunately. Regardless of the fact that this geezer looked like he had one foot already in his grave his eyes were fixed on my name tag on my chest. The corner of his mouth moved upward into a smirk causing my left eye to twitch. 'Damn it, I look like a tool with this.'

"What need do you have with a rouge nin Takashi-san?" I say as I try to get the man to look away from my childish name tag, seriously that man in the black cloak must be laughing his ass off back in that mansion. In front of me the man had gone quiet and his face switched from amusement to bordering on almost depression.

"We once had shinobi of the highest caliber here in Hoshigakure, but after Otogakure attacked it left us completely destroyed. Forcing us to contract missing nin to complete our missions." The look of sadness on his face matched the tone of his voice. 'These people must have suffered gravely at the hands of Orochimaru'. Might as well get this over with and get my money quick before Oto nin come after my trail, these people don't need to get invaded again.

"So I guess I'm going to be your pet shinobi for the time being. I'm Akira by the way." I take the mission scroll out of my pocket and gesture to the man.

"I noticed" He replied.

His face quickly lights up in amusement and with a nods he starts to walk towards the ship. I took the moment with Takashi's back turned to take off my name tag and with a single hand seal the wax paper went up in flames. Ignoring my pyrotechnics the man waved me over continued with the debriefing.

"That's right, I'm going to a village summit in the Land of Waves to ask for supplies. Your job is to protect me during the voyage until I am to return." He simply stated.

The best kind of missions, without crazy parameters or conditions, being a bodyguard was simply the best job. All you have to do is follow around a VIP and wait for shit to hit the fan. Maybe Takashi just needed a baby sitter. With that we began to board the ship up the gangplank, walking onto the deck. We continued past the main deck and up to the captain standing at attention near the stern.

"It's time to set sail, captain" The old man ordered with a smile on his face when we came into speaking distance.

He must really be looking forward to the summit, but I guess Hoshigakure needed all the help it could get. Looking out the side towards the village it was abundantly clear that the village was in dire straights. On top of that, the fact that the leader of said village is being escorted by me, a shady rouge nin not allied with the village spoke volumes for the state of affairs within Hoshigakure.

With the order spoken, the captain ordered the sailors to their positions and walked over to the helm. With the journey underway the old man turned around to face me and spoke.

"Your job until we arrive is to protect us from pirates, your bingo book page stated that you had minor sensor abilities correct?" The look on his face meant that he expected it to be true.

Gotta love being such a badass that an entire page of the bingo book has dedicated to you. Sure the bingo book was 400 pages long, and he was located in the back half of it, but it is cool nevertheless. Finished with my inner gloating I look the man in the eye and put my hand up in a mock salute.

"That's right sir, i'll make sure that you arrive back from the Land of Water safe and sound"

I would feel bad for the band of pirates that came across us on our way. I might not be the strongest shinobi around, but being listed as dangerous was not for show.

"Alright good. Feel free to roam around the ship then, your cabin is on the lower level. I need to prepare my speech for the other village heads. With Konohagakure being there I need to look as professional as possible" With a laugh the old man walked away from me and went down below deck.

But for the next five minutes I did not move a muscle. The old man's words repeated in my head 'Konoha will be at the summit'. Damn, so much for a quiet mission for easy money. 'I wonder if they'll recognize me, it's been four years since I left after all'

I walk over the deck to a seat fixed at the bow of the ship and sat down. Taking off and unzipping my pack I pulled out my most treasured possession. Wrapped in a delicate white cloth was a simple Hitai-ate. A Konoha Hitai-ate to be exact, with a horizontal slice cut through the leaf symbol. The proof to myself I've kept all these years.

The proof of betrayal to my village.

~~~~~~~~~~Flashback 4 Years~~~~~~~~~~

The rain was coming down hard. But even though the wind was calm I couldn't control the shaking of my body. My fear of the man in front of me was almost palpable.

"You are a disgrace to all Konoha shinobi Akira. Your last command is to follow the instructions on this scroll. I never want to see your face again" His sensei of the past 6 months, Fū Yamanaka spat out in anger and threw the scroll on the ground down into the mud next to my feet.

With his last words spoken he vanished in a twirl of leafs. 'So it has come down to this' I thought bitterly, 'nothing else to do but follow the instructions now' I picked up the scroll, brushing off the filth and opened it. The scroll only contained one command in black ink. 'Seek out Kabuto near Kusagakure.'

~~~~~~~~~~Current Time~~~~~~~~~~

My hand tightly gripped the Hitai-ate as bad memories flashed through the front of my mind. I really need to keep my cool. Even if Konoha shinobi will be at the summit, all I need to do is avoid their contingent and cover my face when we approach the meeting area. Hopefully I could avoid reliving some of my worst memories going forward.

With the moment passing, I covered the Hitai-ate in its white cloth and returned it back into my pack. Before I zipped up the pack I opened a bland paper carton and took a cigarette out and lit it with shaky hands. Standing up from my place near the bow, I walked over to the edge of the ship and took a long drag.

"This was a terrible idea" I mutter to the wind.

A/N

This is my first story so any feedback would be nice. Any grammer/style errors or even plot ideas feel free to comment on.

This is the introduction so it my be a short chapter but expect 5k+ words per chapter for about 20 chapters going forward.


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